Two children dead and nine injured in dance workshop stabbing

Two children have died and nine have been injured in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop.

Merseyside Police confirmed the deaths of two children following a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport at 11:47 BST.

Six of the nine injured children are in a "critical condition" in hospital after suffering stab wounds, the force said, with two adults also in a critical condition.

Police said a 17-year-old, from Banks in Lancashire, and originally from Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told a police press conference they were called following reports of a stabbing at 11:47 BST.

She said when officers arrived they "were shocked" to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a "ferocious attack" and had suffered serious injuries.

"It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender armed with a knife walked into the premises and started to attack the children," she said.

"We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked.

"As a mum of two daughters, and the nana of a five-year-old granddaughter, I cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering the families of the victims are currently going through and I want to send them our heartfelt condolences and sympathies".

Ms Kennedy said Merseyside Police was not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack and though the "motivation for the incident remains unclear", it was not being treated as terror-related at this time.

The incident occurred on what is the first full week of the school summer holidays for many children in the UK.

Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, offered his condolences to the victims of the attack, and their families and friends, saying "the whole country is deeply shocked".

He said: "The events today are just truly awful and I know the whole country is deeply shocked about what they’ve seen and what they’ve heard.

"I know I speak for everyone in the whole country in saying, our thoughts and condolences are with the victims, their families, their friends and the wider community and it’s almost impossible to imagine the grief that they’re going through, and the trauma that they’re going through.

"I do want to thank the emergency services and Merseyside Police who have had to respond to the most difficult of circumstances today."

Journalist Tim Johnson, from Eye on Southport, said the incident happened at the Hope of Hart children's club, which is housed in a former warehouse building on a back street.

He said a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop for primary school children aged six to 10 had been taking place at the time of the attack.

The organisers have been contacted for comment but have not responded.

Mr Johnson said: "It was horrendous. I've never seen anything like it.

"There were so many police cars, it was a mass of blue lights. I saw ambulance men and women in tears. People were in tears in the streets."

Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said she was "utterly shocked and devastated" to hear of the "truly appalling" incident.

She said: “To hear that innocent, defenceless children have been attacked during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school as they enjoyed the start of the school summer holidays is unthinkable and absolutely abhorrent.

“These young people had their whole lives ahead of them and it is hard to find the words to convey our deep sadness".

Alder Hey Children's Hospital declared a "major incident" while the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said it "dispatched 13 ambulances along with specialised resources" to the scene, and had also taken patients with stab injuries to Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.

Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) confirmed its Langwathby-based critical care team worked with NWAS and other emergency services at the scene.

A GNAAS spokesman added: "We delivered advanced emergency care to one patient before accompanying them to hospital by road."

A business owner who called the police said the attack was like a "scene in a horror movie".

Colin Parry, owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs on Hart Street, said he believed six or seven "young girls" had been stabbed.

"It's like something from America, not like sunny Southport," he said.

Mr Parry told BBC Radio 5 Live that a builder helped lead some of the children away from the scene of the attack and neighbours helped take "about 10 girls to safety".

"The community was coming together, everyone was trying to help. Everyone was trying to save the young kids," he added.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was "deeply concerned" about the "very serious incident", while Southport MP Patrick Hurley added that he was "hoping for the best possible outcomes to the casualties affected".

Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool City Region, has urged the public not to spread "unconfirmed speculation and false information".

Additional reporting by PA Media.